


Off-World Rescue

by Listentothelittlebird



Series: Code Bat [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Code Bat, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Gen, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Tim Drake is Robin, a l i e n s, mind control (sort of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 10:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27349789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listentothelittlebird/pseuds/Listentothelittlebird
Summary: An alien king has essentially held Nightwing captive, on the grounds that he had no familial connections which tied him down to Earth.Code Bat is activated, and Jason is about ready to throw secrecy out the window and punch the alien in its face.
Relationships: Jason Todd & Dick Grayson
Series: Code Bat [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1964452
Comments: 22
Kudos: 721





	Off-World Rescue

Kori’s spaceship was pretty huge, considering that she usually rode it alone. That day the cockpit was far from empty, with Kori herself staring intently out into the deep inky abyss before her, and Roy silently fiddling with his weaponry at his seat.

The two were so preoccupied in their own thoughts that they paid no attention to the way Jason was reacting to the situation. He was stiff, normal snark quieted, helmet angled away from his teammates with his arms folded tightly across his chest.

Jason wondered if it was too obvious for him to have already been waiting for them at Kori’s spaceship by the time they had packed their things and made their plans. They had luckily not minded his presence on this mission, despite there being no explanation which they would know for him to want to tag along.

They had not questioned how he knew what they were going off-world for. They had not questioned why he cared.

It had started with a transmission over his comms.

_“Red Hood,” Oracle sounded, “Code Bat.”_

_Red Hood straightened immediately. “What’s the brief?” he gruffed, eyeing the empty Outlaws base. Bizarro and Artemis had gone on a personal quest to get Superman’s attention, so that Bizarro could finally meet some people who could mentor him. Red Hood had opted to stay behind, due to his anti-hero reputation._

_There was a pause._

_“Nightwing is being held captive off-world,” Oracle stated, “Starfire and Arsenal will be attempting to retrieve him. We need a Bat on board.”_

Jason had already known Nightwing was off-world with some Justice League members for democratic relations between aliens. Oracle further explained that the alien king had then used Nightwing as a host - a _puppet_ \- to talk to the other League members in English.

If Bruce had been with them, Jason was fairly sure he would have stabbed the alien, right then and there. Unfortunately, Batman was stuck on bedrest in Gotham, with a leg cast hindering his movements.

“According to what I know about this society,” Kori started, pulling Jason out of his thoughts, “We’ll have three chances to talk to the king, one turn each. Their society values familial connections, and luckily, even their families are not always connected in blood.”

“The reason they took Nightwing specifically is because he is known to be a solo vigilante with no known familial connections. We have to convince the king that our relationships with him as teammates is familial enough that his absence would be detrimental to us.”

_“Flash was there, Wally West, but even he was unable to get through to Nightwing while he was under the alien’s control,” Oracle explained, “There is a high chance that Starfire and Arsenal will fail. However, the alien mentioned that family members should be able to draw the host body out of their trance.”_

Roy turned to eye Jason then, finally looking at him like he was processing his presence with them. “I guess you’ll just have to convince the king of, well, our connections to Nightwing,” Roy gestured to himself and Kori, “It’s better than nothing. Third time’s the charm, after all.”

Jason tried to remain nonchalant, shrugging jerkily, “Yeah, I’ll go after you and Kori. He’s your teammate, after all.”

_“What if they realise something’s up?”_

_“In the words of Batman as he tried to get off bedrest: Code Bat was made for our safety. If revealing ourselves means Nightwing comes home, then so be it.”_

_“...we’re not a family joined by blood, O.”_

_“I know.”_

_“What if it’s not enough?”_

_“...it has to be.”_

_He’s my brother, let me go first,_ his brain screamed, but he clamped his mouth shut.

They were forced to remain just outside the king’s chamber, guards flanking them on either side. 

Roy went first, and emerged frustrated, being manhandled out by the guards. The guards were horrendous-looking alien… worms, with half of an exoskeleton along their backs and thin insect limbs that ended with pincers. Jason barely glimpsed the chamber as the door closed behind him, Roy stumbling towards them with a scowl.

“If he wasn’t royalty,” he hissed, hands trembling, “I’d punch the guy.”

Kori patted him with a solemn frown, and floated pointedly through the doors, fingertips igniting and sparking with pent up energy. She exited with much more dignity than Roy, but her eyes were dark, empty.

“I failed to convince him,” she admitted softly, her feet floating down to the floor dejectedly. Jason looked between his two teammates, sucked in a long, sharp breath, and barged into the chamber.

He would never be used to seeing aliens that were so… un-humanoid. The king looked like an obese larvae that was basically the height of the hall, sitting on its ass and hunched over. Its obsidian eyes were bright and intelligent. 

Standing in front of the giant mass was his brother, still in his Nightwing uniform. Jason shivered as the domino turned to face him, a seeing yet unseeing gaze. His eyes traced the small pincer stuck to the nape of his neck back to the alien king. He barely withheld a snarl.

“Another hero to try and take back my translator,” the alien droned, through his brother’s mouth. Hearing the uncharacteristic accent from Nightwing’s lips was so, _so_ wrong. “I commend you all for your persistence, but surely your other teammates have been taken away from you for numerous reasons.”

Jason did snarl now, his modulated voice echoing throughout the chamber, “The only reason our teammates stop being our teammates is because they die. Nightwing is very much alive, and I’m not leaving until you’ve given him back to us.”

The bug-alien tilted its upper abdomen - its head, because it had no neck to speak of. Jason counted it a small blessing that Nightwing was not copying the movements, but he was still too rigid, too unmoving, for his liking. Nightwing was always fidgeting, shifting and chatting, gesturing and twitching, never still. Never like this.

“From what I understand from my two previous audiences, you are not a teammate of this man. Why do you seem to care just as much for him, if not much more?”

Jason twitched. 

“This man has a family waiting for him back home,” Jason reasoned, dodging the previous question, “Are you really going to subject his family to that? To have a family member suddenly disappear off the face of the planet?”

The worm-king paused, and Jason thought he had gotten through to the alien being. Then it seemed to warble out a sigh.

“As I explained to the other two,” the tone was dismissive even through Nightwing’s mouth, “Unless I see real proof of this man’s family - which, as I understand, his own teammates have never met - I maintain that this man has no family to speak of.”

“No one has been able to tell me any of this man’s family members, so is it not an easy conclusion that he has none? This is sound logic that I’m surprised you do not understand. Even if his teammates happened to be his family members, he would have reacted to their voices - which he has not.”

“That is all. Now, leave my planet. Guards, take him out.”

The guards started inching towards him, but Jason growled and twisted off his helmet to glare through his domino. It was fortunate that the planet actually had oxygen.

“Fine! Then I’m here to drag my idiotic, self-sacrificing big brother back home!” Jason roared as the guards latched onto his arms, “Now let him go, you filthy piece of shit!”

Nightwing shuddered from his yell. The guards stilled, pincer hands still biting into his arms. “Little Wing?” Dick whispered, in his own voice, accent and all, the European tinge still intact despite all the years of living in Gotham.

“Big Bird,” Jason rasped, relief wrapped up in lingering anger, “You in there?”

Nightwing shuddered again, and then the alien’s accent returned. “My apologies,” the voice was genuinely flustered and apologetic, “I did not know this was your brother. You may go with him.”

The pincer was released from Nightwing’s neck, as were the guards’ pincer hands clenching Jason’s arms. 

Nightwing blinked under his domino, coming back to himself, before swaying dangerously. Jason ditched his helmet and darted forward, wrapping his arms tightly around his brother as his knees buckled.

“I gotcha, Big Bird,” he whispered, alien king forgotten as he lowered them both towards the ground, “I gotcha.”

“Little W- Hood,” Dick’s voice was a whisper. He struggled to gulp, “What- what are you doing here?”

Jason’s arms tightened their hold as he rumbled out a laugh, “Saving your sorry ass, is what. King Bugman wouldn’t let you go because you supposedly had no family waiting back home.”

Dick nodded, smiling weakly as he closed a hand over Jason’s, “I heard you yelling. I remember everything, actually.”

Jason huffed, “Then you’ll remember that your old teammates are waiting outside this stinking place. Can you stand?”

It took a few moments, but eventually Nightwing was staggering towards the doors with the help of his brother, one arm over his shoulder and leaning flush into his leather jacket. Jason had retrieved his helmet from the floor and secured it back over his head. He resolutely ignored the alien king twitching and shifting on its throne, almost in embarrassment. 

Kori and Roy were shocked to see both of them emerge from the closed doors.

“We thought you got into a fistfight,” Roy joked, moving to Nightwing’s other side and wrapping his own arm around the ex-Titan’s waist, “We heard you yell, and you were taking much longer than the both of us.”

“I was this close to pulling my gun on his slimy face,” Jason admitted, reluctantly pulling away from Dick’s side, “But I guess third time’s the charm, after all.”

As he pulled away, Dick grasped onto his arm and squeezed tightly. To the others, it looked like he was trying to catch his balance. Jason subtly rested his hand over his brother’s hold, which gradually released as Kori took his place.

It was hard to act like strangers, to resist seeking comfort from each other after their quick reunion.

Nightwing passed out during the trip back to Earth, sprawling out on a seat and snoring loudly. Jason was glad for the twitches and jerks that showed his brother was back in control of his body, the ticks that were usually annoying now desperately reassuring.

“You can drop me off at Blüdhaven.” 

At Roy’s questioning glance, Jason shrugged, “I don’t feel like heading back to the Outlaws base. Besides, I’ve got something I need to check out in the city.”

Kori regarded Jason momentarily with a confused frown, but obliged with his request. The spaceship soon took off back to the Outlaws base, leaving Nightwing and Red Hood on a rooftop, concealed by the night. Jason reconnected his comms.

“Oracle, mission success. Starfire might be a bit suspicious, but nothing was confirmed. Relay that to the others for me.”

“Got it, Hood. Now get Boy Wonder back to the Manor before B combusts via brooding and R finds a spaceship and murders a guy.”

Red Hood chuckled and disconnected from the comm, removing his helmet and facing his brother. “How’re you doing, Dickie?” he questioned softly. 

In response, Dick latched onto his younger brother, pulling him close. “The nap did me some good, but I could really use a warm meal and more sleep,” Dick hummed. He paused to wrinkle his nose, “Also a shower. I probably stink.”

“Not as much as that time you fell in a dumpster,” Jason drawled. Dick clinged to him for a moment longer before letting go.

“Thanks for coming for me, Little Wing,” Dick’s smile was warm and bright. Jason huffed, angling his head away and trying to hide his own lips turning upwards, “Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome and whatever. Now, c’mon - B’s probably worrying himself into the ground thinking about you. Not to mention the kid - if I wasn’t already on it, I bet he’d have found a way to get you out himself.”

“Can I drive?”

“Dick, you haven’t eaten in like, a week. I’m driving, and you better not fall off the bike.”

“Okay, okay. Lead the way, Jaybird.”

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me at 12:24am as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep


End file.
